On Nerubian Anatomy

Post by Skreeran

Alright, so as those of you participating in ReGenesis probably know, I started my first Nerubian character a few days ago. And as some of you might have expected, I took that opportunity to go completely overboard in my research, far beyond what is actually necessary for roleplaying purposes.

The first thing I feel merits mentioning is that Nerubians actually have several things in common with insects. Where Spiders have two body segments and four pairs of limbs plus pedipalps, whereas the Nerubians have three clearly defined body segments, and three pairs of ambulatory limbs and one pair of manipulative limbs (which may be homologous to pedipalps, or may not; I'll get to that later.).

The manipulative limbs have been seen to play a role in tactile manipulation as well as spellcasting, and could probably be used in feeding for small prey, or if—like some species of spider—they crush up their prey using teeth on their chelicerae (the mouthparts connected to the fangs), then they could use their manipulative limbs to assist in that function.

Now, here's the curious part. The old Nerubian model had mouthparts that very clearly resembled chelicerae (see here), where the manipulative limbs would be homologous to the pedipalps. The small pair of upwards pointing fangs would then be a fanglike extension of the maxillary plates, which themselves are plate-like extensions of the “hip” structure of the pedipalps (the coxae).

The new Nerubian model, however, has replaced the same structure with a short, segmented limb (see here) that more closely resembles the spider pedipalp. The problem, then, with the new model, is that that would require the small pair of upward pointing fangs to actually be the chelicerae, which causes a problem, because all spiders possess chelicerae that point down.

For this reason, I would like to believe that the Nerubians mouthparts are essentially organized as such.

Another thing to note is that it is not spider venom itself that liquefies the interiors of their prey. Spider venom is simply used to kill or paralyze their prey, at which point they regurgitate and/or spit digestive juices from their mouth either onto the exterior of the prey, or force it through the hole made by the fangs, before sucking the slurry back into their mouths. Now, this might not necessarily be true for nerubians. Spiders liquefy their prey to save energy, because most of their diet includes insects whose chitinous exoskeletons cannot be digested and would have to be eliminated by the body at the cost of precious energy. By only consuming liquefied insect, they are able to ingest only the parts they can easily digest and save energy in the process. Nerubians, on the other hand, might have a different diet. We don't know what they usually eat. If it is another type of arthropod, they would probably keep their spider-type digestive process. If a soft-bodied animal was a core part of their diet, however, they might masticate it like an insect predator.

In conclusion, there is something wrong with me because I spend my time figuring out exactly how Nerubians work instead of doing something that might further my life goals.

Post by lightnstuff

S'alright Skree. Fantasy bugs are way more entertaining than real bugs. Unless their camel spiders...Unless their FANTASY camel spiders...

Post by oneforthemoney

On the topic of nerubian diets, it makes sense that they used a sort of agricultural method of harvesting in order to accommodate the needs of an empire. However, theirs is a kingdom underground. So it may be that they do in fact eat other insects. It was mentioned that they may have used jormungers to help dig their tunnels. Well, perhaps they also harvested them for food as well.

That is of course assuming their diet didn't involve eating plants of some sort. Although that might explain that tier in the Ahn'kahet where Animus is. That region with all the mushrooms could have been something of a farming area.

Nerubians strike me as something between spiders and ants, wherein they live in colonies with clear hierarchies and have queens which produce all their young. Like you said, they have three body segments like insects, and Azjol-Nerub has much more in common with an anthill than a spiders web (if anything more of a cross between). But since they are an offshoot from the Aqir, that wouldn't be too surprising.

Post by Adamsm

I think the Nerubians are meant to be herbivores, just because nearly all of the actual areas for them we see are covered in plants and the like.

As for the body type thing; I do think the Nerubians are meant to be a cross between Arachnids and Insects, just because of the wide variety of body types we've seen for them...just like how there are Scorpion type Silithids running around.

Post by Skreeran

And while plant matter may make up a part of Nerubian diets, I doubt it's the entirety.

Post by Gumballs

This is so awesome.

I've got three tarantulas myself, it's always interesting watching their movements and habits. Our male, Peter, just recently hit maturity and will not be around much longer. His pedipalps have little bulbs on them, marking him as a mature male, so he will spend the next up to a year and a half wandering around his cage searching for a mate and only eating sparingly until he dies.

Anyways, I don't have very much to add I just wanted to share that I enjoyed this. :)

Post by Morec0

This is so awesome.

Agree, AND incredibly fascinating!

It's a little late for me to really give a in-depth thought and analysis on your disection of the neurbian anatomy at the moment, but come tomorrow I'll re-read this and definately provide a little bit more input. For now; suffice to say that none here - especially me - judge you for this effort. THIS is why Lore and Roleplaying exists, in my opinion; to analyze the Warcraft universe in all of its fascates, not just debate about the current plotholes and create RP scenarios.

Also looking forward to how this may help me, I've been looking into the anatomy and biology of an insectiod alien species I'll be using in one of my own books (although they could be considered more along the lines of mosquitos instead of spiders) and the information here is sure to provide a little insight.

Post by Atik

Gonna need a bigger boot.

(On a similiar note, I still want to make a Kobold Character....)

Post by Skreeran

Glad you guys enjoyed it. :)

Post by Monday

That was very interesting. You have a far greater attention span than I do.

Post by Skreeran

That was very interesting. You have a far greater attention span than I do.

You don't even know the half of it. Days later and I'm still looking at Eye Arrangements.

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